Oh, Darling, It Isn't That Easy
by ah0y-carina
Summary: Everyone knows that Eli had loved Julia, and that she had slipped from his grip. And, as we all know, Clare became Elijah's saving grace. But when the anniversary of Julia's death creeps around, Eli feels as though he shouldn't be happy without her.


_Once upon a time, there was a boy named Elijah Goldsworthy, a boy so charming that he could reel just about anyone in, despite his black clothes and vintage hearse. And he did reel a few in, since he had just begun high school. And he had one girl who wasn't put off by his dark disposition or ever-present smirk, in fact, she embraced this lovely boy and all his goth-esque quirks. Funny thing is, when you read this, I'm sure you're thinking of a lovely little sophomore named Clare, but it took around seventeen years for Clare to come into Elijah's life. I'm talking about Julia._

Elijah had a lot of fun times with this girl, and her dark, yet insightful eyes. He held a comfort as he wrapped his arms around her and would listen as she spoke about her family. Eli got over his parent's open arms and would sleep with her by his side. But, there's always a point, when the world that he'd built up so carefully came to halt and crashed. And that was on April 22, 2009, the day when Julia died. The day when it was his fault.

And he tried spending all of 2009 and most of 2010 getting over it. And now a new year's rolled in, the new year with the new beginnings with someone else held in his arms, someone he loves as well. Here's when that little blue eyed girl enters his story. This is when he allows himself to fall again, and test his limits, and do a bunch of stuff just to see a perfect little smile upon Clare's perfect little lips. And he does, for a while, but it's about that time, that time when April rolls around again. And memories of Julia begin to hit him, as well as Clare and Adam, indirectly. And it seems his world begins to fall apart again, right after he'd found a way to build it up. 

A little summary to show you what you're getting into. ;)

_Chapter One._

A soft groan escaped Elijah's lips as he heard the sharp sound of his alarm clock, a banging against the door that seemed to reverberate inside his head, beating against it as an echo. A long, drawn out echo. No, that wasn't the right phrase, because it was his mother who was drawing out the echo, as she continued banging against the door. "Wake up, baby boy. School today!" Of course, he knew that, he knew that when he had gone to sleep at two the previous morning. Eli was just trying to hold off his weekend, help it last as long as he possibly could.

Not that that ever worked. Because it ended up as this.

Always had, actually. Ever since he had been a freshman, he and Julia used to stay up until the early hours of the day, her talking about something while he listened, although, he was more watching. He wasn't really sure what else he was supposed to do, there, because he didn't know what anyone was supposed to do.

Eli shook his head as the picture of him sitting up in his bed, with Julia leaning against the wall, materialized in his mind. It seemed he'd been doing that too often now, let his mind drift away from Clare and her baby blues, to those darker ones he'd stared into two years prior. He had tried not to believe it was just because April was coming up, because last year, it was as if the cycle faltered and pulled back again. He didn't need that, not now.

By the time he had tried to shift his focus back to his current, fully alive girlfriend, he was standing up in the middle of his room, having walked along this path, past all the debris littering his room. It was second nature nowadays, he hardly had to think to make his way through the piles of junk.

Today, he managed to not look at the picture of Julia on his dresser, not even as he pulled the door open and grabbed a pair of jeans. That must be considered an accomplishment.

Eli pulled on a his jeans, as well as a shirt as he focused on the picture on his bedside instead. A part of it had been cleared out to fit a picture of Clare on it, him having moved the one of his ex-girlfriend to the dresser instead. There, it was hidden between enough scatter that it was hard to see, or notice, for the most part. That way, he didn't have to explain much and could learn to spend more time thinking of his little sophomore girlfriend with the auburn curls. That way he'd make sure that she was the only one he'd be wanting to hold.

Well, he could at least try.

Swinging his backpack onto his shoulder, he headed toward the door, plucking the keys from the spot near the window, where he always kept him, so that they wouldn't be lost in the sea of things. Merely running a hand through his hair and shaking it out, he headed out his bedroom door, knowing that he was already running a bit late and that Clare would probably we waiting just outside her door for him to come. He had to move fast, of course.

As always, as he passed his mother he heard the ever-familiar, "Eli, don't you want something for breakfast?" Breakfast every morning, that was the key, as Cece believed.

He shook his head, his messy hair moving as he did so. "Sorry, mom, I'm running late." It was a simple excuse most of the time, but it worked pretty efficiently, given the fact his mother didn't say anything against it, not until he'd opened the front door and was a foot out, glancing back at her to wave his goodbye.

"See you after school, baby boy. Make sure to get Clare to school on time." Cece knew his lovely Clare as well, and she too knew how necessary it would be to such a girl.

But, as he walked out, the fact that she had said such a thing in such a lenient and careful way, he had a feeling she knew that it was just about hitting April. His mom had seen him last year, as the anniversary of her death first hit him, and she too was hoping that he wouldn't be in such a breakdown again. In fact, he knew his mother was hoping that he would be even a bit happy, since he had a girlfriend now, someone who could take away some of the pain. Then again, they could only hope that she would have such an effect on the boy.

He headed toward his hearse, easily slipping into the front seat, him reaching for his seat belt as he jammed the key into the ignition, him glancing at the mirror. It seemed he did that a lot more, since he'd started dating Clare, because that girl could be so put together at the earliest of hours. He hadn't an idea how she did that.

Luckily, for him, time seemed to past quickly, each block moving past in this little sea of cement, only in his vision for a few seconds before he turned onto the next one. And the next one. And the one after that, until he could see her house in the distance, this cozy little town house type nuzzled among a few others. It was right there, and Elijah could see her from where she stood, her bag sitting up on the ground next to her while she stood, her curls placed in this perfect array, framing her face. Like he'd said, Clare Edwards was always put together, every morning, with her hair frizz-free and her eyes a brilliant blue, even if it was a Monday and it was seven am. She was ready, so it seemed. She was every single day. He let Morty slide into the spot just in front of her as he brought the car to an easy stop.

Clare walked toward his hearse, a smile against her pink lips as she pulled open the door, acting as if she needn't permission to sit in the car next to him. It made him smile, how things had evolved for them, her being so comfortable as she sat on the right side. "Morning," she said sweetly, seeing as it was one of those better mornings.

For her. Not for him.

"Morning, Blue eyes," he said, that being just as status-quo as it was for her to slide into his car, closing the door and setting her bag on the bench seat between the two of them. Things had grown into a comfortable pattern for these two, and the last thing Eli wanted was for that to falter.

Just when things were getting good.


End file.
